The present invention relates to a method for the preparation of an optically active 2-substituted carboxylic acid. More particularly, the invention relates to a method for the preparation of an optically active 2-substituted carboxylic acid useful as an intermediate for the synthesis of various kinds of medicinal and agricultural chemicals and as a starting material of liquid-crystalline polymers
Several synthetic methods are known for the preparation of an optically active 2-substituted carboxylic acid but none of the known methods is fully efficient from the standpoint of industrial production. It is expected that there can be a microbiological method for the preparation of an optically active 2-substituted carboxylic acid in a much higher efficiency than in any of the known chemical synthetic methods but no such a microbiological method is known in the prior art.